Born
in Minnesota, USA of Scottish descent, he attended Bedford School. He gained his RAeC Certificate (No 985) on 24 November
1914 and joined the RFC. He originally
fought in South Africa as a private soldier before being commissioned. In
1904 he joined the West African Frontier Force, where he was mentioned in
despatches but also caught blackwater fever.

He had a
special craving for a glass of whiskey and milk before breakfast and not being
prepared to accept condensed milk, he detailed one of his officers to acquire
suitable supplies of milk.This
resulted in the squadron being probably the only RFC unit on the Western Front
or elsewhere to possess it's own cow.He
led a return flight from Basrah to Muscat in flying boats starting on 8 May
1929.

On 28 January 1936 he was a mourner at the
funeral of HM King George V. In 1936, the home command
structure was re-organized into functional commands, Inland Area was renamed
Training Command with Burnett remaining as it's AOC in C.As such he oversaw the great build up of the RAF training machine to cope
with the increasing requirements brought about by the need for rapid expansion
of the late thirties as the likelihood of war with Germany became more and more
certain.

Extract from the London
Gazette - 5 July 1921

"The, Royal Air Force under the Command of Wing Commander C. S.
Burnett, C.B.E. , D.S.O. , Commanding Mesopotamian Wing, Royal Air Force, have
during the operations above described co-operated with the Army both in attack
and defence, constantly reconnoitring almost every part of Mesopotamia.
Twenty-eight tons of bombs were dropped and 74,000 rounds of ammunition fired
from machine-guns on insurgent concentrations, camps and. convoys and hostile
villages. Communication was maintained with outlying and besieged
garrisons; ammunition, food, medical comforts, wireless spare parts, and on one
occasion a 13 -pounder breech block were conveyed, to isolated posts."